Browns hire Jim O'Neil as defensive coordinator, other coaches

FILE - In this June 10. 2013, file photo, Jim O'Neil of the Buffalo Bills NFL football team poses for a photo. New Cleveland Browns coach Mike Pettine is assembling his staff; one coach he's expected to contact as a possible defensive coordinator is Buffalo linebackers coach O'Neil, who has spent the past five seasons working under Pettine. (AP Photo, File)

New Browns head coach Mike Pettine has found his defensive coordinator by hiring the linebackers coach from the Buffalo Bills and his special teams coordinator by retaining Chis Tabor.
Pettine, the Bills’ defensive coordinator in 2013 hired Thursday as Browns head coach, tapped Jim O’Neil to run his defense, the Browns announced Monday night. O’Neil and Pettine were on the same defensive staff with New York Jets from 2009-12 before moving on to Buffalo together.
O’Neil in Buffalo worked with the outside linebackers and helped the Bills set a franchise record with 57 sacks, second-most in the NFL in 2013. The Bills defense finished 10th (333.4 yards allowed per game) in the NFL in total defense, after finishing 22nd (362.9) in 2012. Buffalo also led the NFL in opponent completion percentage (55.3), and finished second in interceptions (23), third in opponent quarterback rating (74.9), fourth in passing defense (204.4), sixth in yards per play (4.90) and tied for sixth in takeaways (30).
Finding an offensive coordinator is proving more challenging for Pettine.
The Browns wanted to hire fired Texans head coach Gary Kubiak, but Kubiak on Monday was hired by the Baltimore Ravens. The Ravels lost their offensive coordinator, Jim Caldwell, to Detroit as the Lions head coach.
According to Ian Rapoport of the NFL Network, “Kubiak wanted more power than the Browns were willing to give.” Rapoport tweeted Kubiak wanted to be a “pseudo” head coach.
Cam Cameron, with whom Pettine worked in Baltimore in 2008 — Cameron was the Ravens offensive coordinator and Pettine as outside linebackers coach — was another consideration, but Cameron announced he plans to stay as LSU offensive coordinator.
Rapoport said Dowell Loggains, the Titans’ offensive coordinator the past two seasons, is “in play” to land the same job with the Browns. Loggains lost his job when the Titans hired Ken Whisenhunt as their head coach.
Loggains might be a tough sell to skeptical Browns fans. The Titans ranked 11th in team offense in 2013, but they were 31st in points scored. Only the Jaguars ranked lower.
Highly respected Norv Turner was the Browns’ offensive coordinator last season, but he was hired for the same job with the Minnesota Vikings before the Browns hired Pettine.
The Browns also announced the following additions to Pettine’s staff:
-- Tight ends coach Brian Angelichio: Angelichio has been in coaching 20 years. He coached the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in 2012 and 2013. He was not retained when Greg Schiano was fired. He coached tight ends at Rutgers (2011) and Pitt (2006-10).
-- Secondary coach Jeff Hafley: Hafley was also part of Schiano’s staff in Tampa Bay. He was the Buccaneers’ safeties coach in 2013. He joined the Bucs in 2012 as assistant defensive backs coach.
-- Linebackers coach Chuck Driesbach: Driesbach coached the Bills’ inside linebackers in 2013. He coached 36 years of college football at 11 stops. The 2013 season was his only year coaching in the NFL.
Pettine and Driesbach attended Central Bucks West High School in Pennsylvania, graduating 14 years apart.
-- Assistant defensive backs coach Bobby Babich: Babich was hired for the same position in 2013 by former Browns coach Rob Chudzinski and retained by Pettine. Babich spent the previous two seasons with the Carolina Panthers as a defensive assistant (2012) and administrative assistant for the coaching staff (2011), assisting with day-to-day operations and working with the nickel backs.
-- Assistant linebackers coach Brian Fleury: Fleury was defensive quality control coach on the Bills’ staff in 2013, his first season in the NFL. He spent the previous four years (2009-12) as secondary coach and special teams coordinator at Towson University.
-- Assistant special teams coach Shawn Mennenga: Mennenga is in his fourth season as the Browns assistant special teams coach under Tabor. Both were hired by Pat Shurmur in 2011 and retained by Chudzinski last year.
Pettine has yet to hire a running backs coach, offensive line coach or defensive line coach.